Frasier

Background:

“I wish James Dean would never have died. Then he'd be fat and acting on 'Dynasty' (1981) or something. There wouldn't be this whiny-boy act that's so prevalent everywhere.” Jane Leeves

A British performer who found modest success on American television, Jane Leeves is most-known for playing Daphne Moon on the American prime time series “Frasier” (1993-2004), from which she was handed a SAG Award and a Viewers for Quality Television Award. She also received many nominations, including an Emmy nomination and a Golden Globe nomination. Prior to the award-winning performance, she was popular as Audrey Cohen on the sitcom “Murphy Brown” (1989-1993) and Marla The Virgin in episodes of “Seinfeld” (1992). Leeves also has collected numerous film credits including To Live and Die in L.A (1985), Miracle on 34th Street (1994), Music of the Heart (1999) and The Event (2003). Her voice can be heard in the animated films James and the Giant Peach (1996) and Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties (2006).

A former model, Leeves wears a size 6 dress and has the measurements of 32-22-33 (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine). She is 5’ 10”. Currently, Leeves resides in Los Angeles with her husband of 11 years, Marshall Coben, and their two children, Isabella (born 2001) and Finn (born 2003). In her leisure time, the attractive performer loves cooking, reading, sports and working out in dance classes. She co-owns a production company called Bristol Cities with her sister Kathryn and actress Peri Gilpin, her costar in “Frasier.”

Ballerina

Childhood and Family:

Daughter of an engineer and a nurse, Jane Leeves was born on April 18, 1961, in Ilford, Essex, England. She was raised in East Grinstead, Sussex, along with two sisters and a brother. She was trained as a ballet dancer, but had to change her dream of a professional career after an ankle injury in 1979. She did some modeling before finally switching to acting.

Jane married CBS Paramount Television executive Marshall Coben on December 21, 1996, at St. Michael's Church in Withyham, Sussex. She gave birth to the couple's first child, a girl named Isabella Kathryn Coben, on January 9, 2001. “Frasier” co-star Peri Gilpin is her daughter's godmother. On December 19, 2003, she and her husband welcomed a son named Finn William Leeves Coben.

Murphy Brown

Career:

Following an injury at age 18, aspiring ballet dancer Jane Leeves worked as a model until she made her first film appearance as an angel in the British comedy The Meaning of Life (1983). Returning to her native England after spending a few years as a struggling actress in New York, she made her English TV acting debut with the cult comedy “The Benny Hill Show” (1983 -1985), where she appeared as Hill's Angel. She soon made her way back to America and tried her luck in Los Angeles. Shortly thereafter, Leeves landed a role in the movie To Live and Die in L.A (1985), based on a novel by Gerald Petievich, and was cast as Prudence Anne Bartlett 'Blue' in the syndicated ensemble comedy “Throb” the next year.

A series of guest roles followed, including one as Gwen Petrie in a 1987 episode of “Murder, She Wrote,” before Leeves joined the cast of the long-running sitcom “Murphy Brown” in 1989 in the recurring role of Audrey Cohen. She became famous for her portrayal of the frivolous girlfriend of Miles Silverberg (played by Grant Shaud) and stayed with the show until 1993. She also starred in the short lived series “Just Deserts” (1992) and appeared as a guest star in such TV series as “Who's the Boss” (1990) and “Blossom” (1991). She also offered a remarkable guest turn as Marla Penny, the virgin who beds John F. Kennedy Jr., in one of the most famed episodes of “Seinfeld” entitled “The Contest” (1992).

After “Murphy Brown,” Leeves experienced a huge breakthrough when she was cast in the regular role of Daphne Moon in the “Cheers” spin-off “Frasier” (1993-2004), which starred Kelsey Grammer in the title role. During her ten-years on the show as the “half-psychic” live-in keeper of Martin Crane (played by John Mahoney) and long-standing lover of Niles Crane (played by David Hyde Pierce), she was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series (1998), a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV (1995), two Golden Satellites for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Comedy or Musical (2000 and 2004), and won one of eight Screen Actors Guild nominations for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series in 2000. She also picked up a 1995 Viewers for Quality Television in the category of Best Supporting Actress in a Quality Comedy Series.

Leeves resumed her big screen career in 1994 by taking on a supporting role opposite Paul Reiser and Jessica Tuck in the comedy Mr. White and playing Alberta Leonard on Miracle on 34th Street, with Dylan McDermott. Two years later, she was introduced to new viewers when she provided the voice of the motherly Ladybug in the Disney cartoon film James and the Giant Peach. The same year, she teamed up with Richard Dean Anderson and Daphne Zuniga for the television film Pandora's Clock (1996). She went on to have supporting roles in the movies Don't Go Breaking My Heart (1999, with Tom Conti and Anthony Edwards), Wes Craven's Music of the Heart (also 1999, starred Meryl Streep and Angela Bassett) and The Event (2003, opposite Sarah Polley). In 2002, she could be seen acting on Broadway as Sally Bowles in “Cabaret.”

After the demise of “Frasier,” Leeves spent most of her life outside the limelight. She maintained her presence in the entertainment industry by providing the vocal of Eenie in the animated feature Garfield: A Tail of Two Kitties (2006) and guest starring in an episode of “Twenty Good Years” (2006), as Mary Frances.

Awards:

• Screen Actors Guild: Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series, “Frasier,” 2000

• Viewers for Quality Television: Best Supporting Actress in a Quality Comedy Series, “Frasier,” 1995